The present invention relates to imaging technologies for inspection of devices such as, but not limited to, catalytic converters. More specifically, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to evaluating the presence or absence or edge chip damage for an object such as a catalytic converter. The problems in the art addressed by the present invention are described in terms of catalytic converters. The present invention, however, is not limited to catalytic converters, but can be used in other applications as well.
Catalytic converters are typically fragile ceramic blocks which can easily be damaged. Catalytic converters are comprised of a plurality of parallel tubes to form a honeycomb structured object. Due to the fragility of these ceramic blocks, the catalytic converters can be easily damaged particularly on the edges. This damage may be referred to as edge chips. These edge chips affect the performance and sealing of the catalytic converters into an enclosure. Thus, the presence of edge chips is a significant problem in catalytic converter manufacturing.
There is a need to provide for inspection of catalytic converters. Manufacturers of catalytic converter monoliths and diesel particulate filters (DPF) have been facing increasing demands from a customer base to perform 100 percent inspection of all product produced or processed in the plant. Such inspection would, of course, have to be of a nondestructive type. Therefore, it would be useful if imaging and image processing technologies could be used to improve the inspection process including evaluating for the presence of edge chips.
One of the problems with some inspection processes is their complexity. The complexity can include using multiple cameras, rotating objects or other cumbersome techniques. Therefore, it would be preferred if a practical, less cumbersome and less complex approach could be used.
In an inspection process, it would be preferred if only a single camera needed to be used and the object being inspected need not be rotated. Using multiple cameras to view edges from different angles by rotating the object would be more cumbersome and more complex.